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Monday, August 4, 2014

#67 RE: Fresh (Mango Berlinerweisse)

Another beer my wife really enjoys is a tart, light, spritzy, wheaty Berlinerweisse. As do I. And since the grists for my Hefeweisse I made for her and this Berliner are so close, why not make one of each at the same time. Last time I did this I had a bad sour mash. This time I opted for a single boil of both beers to 8.5 gallons, and then split them for fermentation. I topped off the Berliner to dilute it to the proper strength, and the IBUs were perfect for both. I have the Cascade Lacto strain, and decided to let it have fun all on its own for a week before introducing any Sacc to encourage good acid development in a short time. I pitched big too, 1L starter of a very fierce bacteria, then hit it with some Kolsch yeast to finish the work, lower the gravity, and drop the pH even more.

After primary was done it was yogurty, and tart, but not as tart as I wanted. I also had a few pounds of Mango chopped up in the freezer. I added the beer to the fruit to age for a few weeks, and also fermented some pure Mango juice with the Lacto for some more fruit flavor and sourness. On bottling I added a little food grade Lactic Acid to make it pop just a little more.

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Stats:

Gallons: 5.25

OG: 1.029

FG: 1.004

ABV: 3.3%

IBUs: 8

SRM: 3.0

Efficiency: 92%

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Fermentables:

1.60# White Wheat Malt (37.4%)

1.60# Weyermann Pilsner (37.4%)

1.10# Wheat Malt, Dark (25.2%)

Mash 10 hours @ 150

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Boil: 75 mins

60 mins 0.20 oz Magnum 16.40%AA

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Kettle Additions:

Gypsum - Mash 1/4 tsp; Sparge 1/4 tsp

Epsom Salts - Mash 0 tsp; Sparge 1/4 tsp

Calcium Chloride - Mash 1/4 tsp; Sparge 1/4 tsp

Pickling Lime - Mash 1/8 tsp

Lactic Acid - Mash 0.5 ml; Sparge 0.3 ml; Packaging 3 ml

Yeast Nutrient 4 taps

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Fermentation:

Cooled to: 70*F

Cascade Lacto (1000ml)

70*F 2 days

72*F 2 days

74*F 2 days

78*F 2 days

WYeast Kolsch 1 (50ml slurry to 500ml wort stirred to wake up)

68*F 15 days70-85*F 19 days on fruit

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Notes:

6/20-22 Brewed alone. Mashed all the grains for Berliner, Hefe, and the Saison together; doughed in around 9:30pm, wrapped in heated blanket and sleeping bag for the night. Second burner broke so I had to scramble, borrowed in-law's camp stove. By 8am the temp had dropped to 138*F. Took a long time to get 11 gallons of sparge water to 165*F on the camp stove. Sparged and collected 17.5 gallons of wort into one kettle. Split off 7 gallons via pump for Saison, then commenced with single boil for both the Hefe and Berliner. Chilled to 70*F. Racked via pump into Better Bottles, split 5 gallons for Hefe, and 3.25 gallons for Berliner. Pitched 900ml of the 1L Lacto starter, and then topped off with water to dilute to 1.029 OG, 8 IBUs, 5.25 gallons. Flushed with CO2, and fitted with airlock. Done, pitched, cleaned by noon.

6/23 Sample of Berliner tastes lightly yogurty, with a finish of Wheat Chex cereal. Bumped up to 72*F.

6/24 Berliner starting to show signs of tartness.

6/25 Berliner showing more tartness, but not ready yet. A pellicle and krausen combo has formed, starting to see CO2 action. Bumped to 74*F.

6/27 Bumped to 78*F to finish strong and give Lacto another push.

6/29 Pitched Kolsch yeast and dropped temps down to 68*F to finish the job.

7/12 Dropped temp on Berlinerweisse to 40*F to drop out yeast and lager a bit for clarity and crispness.

7/14 Racked Berlinerweisse onto 5.4# of Mango flesh and 1 gallon of Cascade Lacto fermented Mango juice, added 1 cup of Lacto starter. Set to 70*F.7/19 Bumped up to 74*F7/21 Bumped to 78*F7/23 Bumped to 85*F7/29 Dropped to 72*F8/2 Racked 1 gallon into bottling bucket exposing a dead pincher bug at the bottom. Force racked the remainder from the Better Bottle to make 4.5 gallons total, added 3ml Lactic Acid and 5.4oz table sugar to carbonate to 3.0 vols of CO2. Kept in garage under cover at ambient temps to carbonate.

We used a sterile 1.030 wort starter, about 500ml. Left it at room temp for a couple weeks before stepping it up. I also tried to culture it up on a 1.020 starter of all Lactose sugar but it didn't take (which is odd since the strain is rumored to have come from a local yogurt). It is also a heterofermentative strain so it creates ethenol and CO2 as well as acid. My best luck so far for acid production is a prolonged aging, it was not a fast acid producer, even when pitched alone at large cell counts. My buddy pitched it alongside Sacc in primary and it was weak, I did it alone for a week before Sacc and it was still weak acid, but stronger than his.